Battle between Netherlands and China over chipmaker could disrupt car factories, companies say
Car companies across Europe and Japan including Volvo, Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan have warned that the battle between the Netherlands and China over control of the chipmaker Nexperia could hit production at factories.Last week’s decision by the Dutch government to take control of the Chinese-owned chipmaker, which is based in the Netherlands, has sent shock waves across the car industry, which is already facing potential shortages of products such as magnets amid China’s latest restrictions on rare earths exports.The Hague said at the time that it was taking control of Nexperia to safeguard Europe’s supply of semiconductors and that it had invoked a cold-war era law to take effective control of the company following concerns raised by the US about the Chinese owner, Wingtech.That decision caused an immediate rift with Beijing, which banned all exports from the chipmaker, escalating the already tense relations between China and the US before a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next week in Korea.The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, whose members include Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Mazda, said on Thursday it had received a warning from Nexperia that chips could now be in short supply, potentially holding up manufacturing.
“The chips manufactured by the affected manufacturers are important parts used in electronic control units, etc, and we recognise that this incident will have a serious impact on the global production of our member companies,” the association said.“We hope that the countries involved will come to a prompt and practical solution.”The German car trade association the VDA has also warned of serious consequences for an industry already battling stiff competition from Chinese EV manufacturers.Its president, Hildegard Müller, said: “The situation could soon lead to significant production restrictions – or even a stop in production – if the interruption of Nexperia chip deliveries cannot be resolved in the short term.”She revealed that VDA members and suppliers had received a notice on 10 October from Nexperia “describing a sequence of events that has led the company to no longer be able to fully ensure the supply of its chips to the automotive supply chain”.
Such is the urgency that the VDA had a meeting with the German economy minister, pushing the federal government and the European Commission for “quick and pragmatic solutions”.In Japan, a Nissan spokesperson said: “We are assessing the situation and will take appropriate measures as needed.”Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionNexperia produces large volumes of semiconductors in the Netherlands, which are widely used in the automotive industry and consumer electronics.The majority are packaged in China, from where they are sold back into global industries.The chief executive of Volvo Cars, Håkan Samuelsson, said the Swedish group, owned by China’s Geely, was not seeing any immediate problems itself, but said he expected rivals to be hit.
“I think there will be some factories shut down,” he told the Financial Times on Thursday.“You always have to be a bit smarter than the rest of the pack so you are not the one that has to shut down the factory.”The UK industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said chip supply problems were the last thing the industry needed.“While the sector has made efforts to diversify its supply chains, if not resolved quickly this issue has the potential to severely disrupt vehicle production and market supply.” It said.
“SMMT is actively monitoring the situation and is in contact with members and government to understand the scale of any impact and measures that might be taken to mitigate it.”Germany’s Volkswagen warned on Wednesday that its car production could also be hit.VW, Europe’s biggest carmaker, confirmed that some Nexperia components are used in its vehicles but said production was currently unaffected.“However, given the dynamic nature of the situation, an impact on production cannot be ruled out in the short term,” added the company, whose 10 brands include Audi, Seat and Skoda.The German economy ministry said on Wednesday it would have a call with car industry bosses.
Trump pardons founder of Binance, world’s largest crypto exchange
Donald Trump issued a pardon for the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on Thursday.“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” a White House statement said. “The war on crypto is over.”Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in late 2023 to one count of failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program and stepped down as CEO of Binance, which paid $4.3bn to settle related allegations
‘Attacks will get through’: head of GCHQ urges companies to do more to fight cybercrime
Companies need to do more to mitigate the potential effects of cyber-attacks, the head of GCHQ has said, including making physical, paper copies of crisis plans to use if an attack brings down entire computer systems.“What are your contingency plans? Because attacks will get through,” said Anne Keast-Butler, who has headed GCHQ, the British government’s cyber and signals intelligence agency, since 2023.“What happens when that happens to you in a company, have you really tested that?” said Keast-Butler, speaking on Wednesday at a London conference organised by the cybersecurity company Recorded Future. “Your plans … have you got them on paper somewhere in case all your systems really go down? How will you communicate with each other if you’re completely reliant on a system that actually you shut down?”Last week, the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, announced figures showing that “highly significant” cyber-attacks have risen by 50% in the past year. Security and intelligence agencies are now dealing with a new attack several times per week, the figures showed
Nothing Ear 3 review: good-looking earbuds with ‘Super Mic’ party trick
Nothing’s latest semi-transparent noise-cancelling earbuds have a new trick up their sleeves: a high-quality mic in the case that you can push a button to talk into.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.This so-called Super Mic is designed for all those who want a microphone-in-the-hand experience for clearer conversations, recordings and voice notes in noisy environments
Tesla reports steep drop in profits despite US rush to buy electric vehicles
Despite record vehicle sales, Tesla saw a precipitous drop in profit in its most recent quarter.A rush to buy electric vehicles before a US tax credit for them disappears had boosted Tesla’s flagging sales, leading to the automaker exceeding some of Wall Street’s projections in its most recent financial quarter. Yet the company failed to meet earnings expectations and its stock fell in after-hours trading.Tesla reported third-quarter earnings of $0.50 a share on Wednesday after market close, less than the $0
OpenAI relaxed ChatGPT guardrails just before teen killed himself, family alleges
The family of a teenager who took his own life after months of conversations with ChatGPT now says OpenAI weakened safety guidelines in the months before his death.In July 2022, OpenAI’s guidelines on how ChatGPT should answer inappropriate content, including “content that promotes, encourages, or depicts acts of self-harm, such as suicide, cutting, and eating disorders”, were simple: the AI chatbot should respond, “I can’t answer that”, the guidelines read.But in May 2024, just days before OpenAI released a new version of the AI, ChatGPT-4o, the company published an update to its Model Spec, a document that details the desired behavior for its assistant. In cases where a user expressed suicidal ideation or self-harm, ChatGPT would no longer respond with an outright refusal. Instead, the model was instructed not to end the conversation and “provide a space for users to feel heard and understood, encourage them to seek support, and provide suicide and crisis resources when applicable”
Apple and Google face enforced changes over UK mobile phone dominance
Google and Apple face enforced changes to how they operate their mobile phone platforms, after the UK’s competition watchdog ruled the companies require tougher regulatory oversight.The Competition and Markets Authority has conferred “strategic market status” (SMS) on the tech firms after investigating their mobile operating systems, app stores and browsers. It means Apple and Google will be subjected to tailormade guidelines to regulate their behaviour in the mobile market.The CMA said the two companies have “substantial, entrenched” market power, with UK mobile phone owners using either Google or Apple’s platforms and unlikely to switch between them. The regulator flagged the importance of their platforms to the UK economy and said they could be a bottleneck for businesses
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